16 Jul 2015

Belfast (Northern Ireland, United Kingdom)

Today, I'll try to fix the flag of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland.

This is the current flag of Belfast:

That's not more than a banner of city's coat of arms:

The coat of arms is not the best heraldry, not it's not horrendous, either. The bell seems to be canting (i.e. punning) with city's name. The vair is taken from Chichester's family heraldry, being Arthur Chichester the founder of the town. The ship may refer to the importance of shipbuilding or the etymology of the city (from Gaelic, "mouth of the sandbar") and is decorated with St. Patrick's cross.

But, as a banner of arms, it's not effective, really too busy. My proposal is the following:

Let me explain it...The river refers to city etymology, and its importance as a portuary and shipbuilding city.Besides remarking Chichester's heraldry, the individual parts of a vair are known as "vair bells", thus keeping the pun. With some luck, they can barely remember a sail.

Comments and suggestions are welcome.Sorry for being REALLY late... It seems like a (negative) record.